In order to remain healthy, vibrant, safe and economically competitive, America’s counties must be able to anticipate and adapt to all types of change. Through the Resilient Counties initiative, NACo works with counties and their stakeholders to bolster their ability to thrive amid changing physical, environmental, social and economic conditions.

Hurricanes, wildfires, economic collapse, and other disasters can be natural or man-made, acute or long-term, foreseeable or unpredictable. Preparation for and recovery from such events requires both long-term planning and immediate action.

NACo works to strengthen county resiliency by building leadership capacity to identify and manage risk, and allow counties to become more flexible and responsive. Through the use of sustainable practices and infrastructure, counties will be better prepared to address these issues in a manner that can minimize the impact on local residents and businesses, while helping counties save money.

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Initiative Activities and Resources

Within this initiative, NACo is sponsoring trainings, peer networking and resource development to support county leaders and other public- and private-s​ector partners seeking to build county resilience. These include:

Below please find presentations delivered at the December 2013 Resilient Counties forum. Click on each speaker’s name to view the presentation.​ View the full forum program here.

Lessons from County Leaders: Partnering to Confront Change

​A panel of county leaders discussed how their communities responded to significant local disasters and the steps they are taking to mitigate potential future disasters, with a particular focus on local and regional partnerships to maintain and improve county operations during times of crisis.

New technologies, innovative mapping tools, mobile applications, social media and other tech resources can revolutionize how counties prepare for and recover from crisis situations. A panel of experts highlighted innovative tools available to counties.

Moderator: Lauren Alexander Augustine, Director – Office of Special Projects on Risk, Resilience, and Extreme Events, National Academy of Sciences

Local Philanthropic, Business and Economic Development Engagement in Recovery Efforts​

The philanthropic community, local business leaders and economic development professionals can play a key role in fostering county resilience. Experienced community leaders described how their organizations have partnered with public- and private-sector leaders in recovery efforts. View the presentations​.

Les Garner, President and CEO, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

“Pervasive Readiness: Pipedream or Possible?”(chapter co-authored by Jason Hutchens, found in McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook: Strategic Guidance for a Coordinated Approach to Effective Security and Emergency Management, Second Edition). Outlines significant lessons learned, best practices, and feasible approaches towards achieving a sustainable state of pervasive readiness.

"A Safe and Integrated City"(article by Rob Welton, Siemens): This paper explores ways that city leaders can work towards the goal of a safe, integrated city and options for financing safety and security technologies for their city.

Publications

This issue brief serves as a guide for county leaders to better understand the process of recovering energy from waste, and provide resources to help counties develop and finance energy-from-waste projects.

America’s counties play an essential role in developing
transportation and infrastructure networks. This report describes how six counties in the U.S. are investing in transportation and infrastructure projects to drive economic growth.

When faced with the threat of weather impacts,the risk management choices are broadly the same: resistance, accommodation, avoidance, transfer and acceptance. The case studies in this publication explore three counties’ approaches to reducing vulnerability and exposure using planning, technology and collaboration tools.

Counties need to be able to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters in a timely fashion, and as part of this preparation, they need to ensure that critical infrastructure, such as energy, water, communications and transportation, remain operational, or that service can be quickly returned to normal following a disaster.

This report highlights innovations in how America’s large urban counties are joining forces with private-sector firms to improve government operations, generate new solutions and reap valuable
cost savings.

County governments maintain a number of public facilities and make local land use and development decisions, and it is important for county leaders be aware of how these responsibilities impact existing pipeline infrastructure.

The case studies showcase counties that have experienced negative effects of poor water quality and are now striving to reverse this course. In each case, counties have found that partnerships have been key components for achieving success.

This issue brief explores the vital role that ports play in counties across the U.S., and what steps counties can take to ensure that they minimize their ports’ environmental impact while remaining competitive in local and global commercial activities. Case studies highlight innovative work that counties are already doing, and offer ideas and additional resources to support counties in promoting more efficient and sustainable port development.

Podcasts

The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, a region-wide effort to explore and invest in smart and sustainable water-related infrastructure, is the focus of the latest NACo podcast. We spoke with Robin Barnes of Greater New Orleans, Inc. about the plan and the role of parishes in regional resiliency.

The Great Lakes Planning Guide provides Great Lakes region stories, data, tools and other resources related to flooding, bluff erosion, invasive species and other coastal concerns. Jeff Stone of the Association of State Floodplain Managers shares the impetus for creating the guide, a bit about the process, as well as how users can best benefit from the resource.

Since 2009 the South Slough Reserve has been working with local stakeholders to create information – environmental and socio-economic – to help inform the community’s decision making process. Hear about the reserve’s efforts, the ups and downs of the project, and key takeaways for counties interested in developing a similar engagement program.

NACo recently sat down with NACo immediate past president, Supervisor Linda Langston, to discuss her presidential initiative, Resilient Counties. Through the initiative, NACo worked with county leaders and their stakeholders to bolster their ability to thrive amid changing physical, social and economic conditions.

Webinars

Learn how Next Generation 911 will allow your county to become more resilient and take advantage of new technologies, such as the ability to send and receive text messages, photos and videos, to improve public safety and emergency response.

Learn how using combined heat and power strategies at critical facilities can help bolster your county’s resiliency by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy savings and reduce the need reliance on base load energy from the grid.

Roger Martella, Sidley Austin, and former EPA General Counsel, will discuss the implications of Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA for state and local government and how this case may affect EPA regulating greenhouse gases in the future.

with environmental educational opportunities for area students and residents to improve community and organization capacity to protect, restore and enhance ecological conditions. Learn from environmental restoration project leaders and partners from across the country that have successfully integrated educational outcomes into their restoration efforts.

Within this initiative, NACo is sponsoring trainings, peer networking and resource development to support county leaders and other public- and private-s​ector partners seeking to build county resilience. These include:

Below please find presentations delivered at the December 2013 Resilient Counties forum. Click on each speaker’s name to view the presentation.​ View the full forum program here.

Lessons from County Leaders: Partnering to Confront Change

​A panel of county leaders discussed how their communities responded to significant local disasters and the steps they are taking to mitigate potential future disasters, with a particular focus on local and regional partnerships to maintain and improve county operations during times of crisis.

New technologies, innovative mapping tools, mobile applications, social media and other tech resources can revolutionize how counties prepare for and recover from crisis situations. A panel of experts highlighted innovative tools available to counties.

Moderator: Lauren Alexander Augustine, Director – Office of Special Projects on Risk, Resilience, and Extreme Events, National Academy of Sciences

Local Philanthropic, Business and Economic Development Engagement in Recovery Efforts​

The philanthropic community, local business leaders and economic development professionals can play a key role in fostering county resilience. Experienced community leaders described how their organizations have partnered with public- and private-sector leaders in recovery efforts. View the presentations​.

Les Garner, President and CEO, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

“Pervasive Readiness: Pipedream or Possible?”(chapter co-authored by Jason Hutchens, found in McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook: Strategic Guidance for a Coordinated Approach to Effective Security and Emergency Management, Second Edition). Outlines significant lessons learned, best practices, and feasible approaches towards achieving a sustainable state of pervasive readiness.

"A Safe and Integrated City"(article by Rob Welton, Siemens): This paper explores ways that city leaders can work towards the goal of a safe, integrated city and options for financing safety and security technologies for their city.

​When faced with the threat of weather impacts,the risk management choices are broadly the same: resistance, accommodation, avoidance, transfer and acceptance. The case studies in this publication explore three counties’ approaches to reducing vulnerability and exposure using planning, technology and collaboration tools.​

​This issue brief explores the vital role that ports play in counties across the U.S., and what steps counties can take to ensure that they minimize their ports’ environmental impact while remaining competitive in local and global commercial activities. Case studies highlight innovative work that counties are already doing, and offer ideas and additional resources to support counties in promoting more efficient and sustainable port development.

​In February of 2014, the
National Association of Counties released an issue brief on the role that
counties can play in advancing energy technology through the adoption of and
investment in smart grid technologies.​

A poster which visually demonstrates the various departments within county government that are influencing s​ustainability to better their communities. Hard co​pies of the poster are available upon request​.

NACo recently released a new issue brief, Waste Energy Recovery: Renewable Energy from County Landfills.This new report serves as a guide for county leaders to better understand the process of recovering energy from waste, and provides resources to help counties develop and finance energy-from-waste projects.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is now accepting applications for the 2015 Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) for communities or impacted stakeholders seeking engineering, or other scientific analysis of issues relating to pipeline infrastructure. Governmental entities or non-profit groups may qualify for a grant of up to $100,000 per year. Applicants must be local communities or groups of individuals relating to the safety of pipeline facilities in local communities. ‘Communities’ are defined as cities, towns, villages, counties, parishes, townships, and similar governmental subdivisions or consortia of such subdivisions. For-profit entities are not eligible.

The announcement can be found by using the “SEARCH GRANTS” tab at G...

Written by Jen Horton, NACo Program Manager.The National Association of Counties and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation are pleased to announce a new opportunity for counties and regions experiencing economic challenges due to the contraction of the coal industry. Throughout 2015, NACo and NADO Research Foundation will host three intensive, hands-on workshops designed to boost the innovative potential of coal-reliant counties and regions seeking to grow and diversify their economies.

Counties and regions are asked to form teams to apply to enter the program, and teams that submit winning applications will be selected to attend a training workshop facilitated by expert practitioners. These workshops will be structured to guide counties an...